Don’t worry about walking into the DMV without an appointment and praying the line won’t stretch to Reno. There may not be any line.

The DMV is not accepting walk-ins right now. It is one of the numerous changes the agency is making to reduce the number of people standing in line so they can ease crowding, and help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Effective immediately, you must have an appointment to get service at the DMV. Weekday hours have been scaled back. The popular Saturday office openings have ended, fewer seats are available in lobbies, and there are no behind-the-wheel driving tests for the next month.

For any transaction that requires an office visit, you need to call ahead for an appointment, which might not be available for two or three months. Transactions that require a DMV visit include getting a REAL ID, new driver’s license, replacement driver’s license, some license renewals, new license plates, and title transfers.

There is a call to extend the REAL ID deadline beyond Oct. 1.

“The health and safety of our employees and customers is the DMV’s top priority,” said communications Deputy Director Anita Gore. “This action addresses their concerns, reduces the possibility of spread and creates telework options while at the same time keeping vital service channels.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom has encouraged a 60-day extension for some deadlines, which might ease the angst of drivers over 70 who are required to take an eye and written test when they renew their licenses, but this is one of the groups of people at most risk from COVID-19.

“I imagine we can extend that, but for at least 60 days, no enforcement of expired licenses and expired registration,” Newsom said at a news briefing this week.

Even if you have an appointment, the office may be busy when you arrive, and more crowded than you are comfortable with, given social distancing recommendations now. Drivers with appointments should check-in, but can leave the office and come back inside once they are notified by text of their place in line. Weekday hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays.

On Monday, the DMV will begin a Virtual Field Office program to augment online services that are already available. Motorists will be able to upload documents and provide an e-signature for vehicle title transfers, commercial driver’s license renewals, name or gender changes, and driver’s license reinstatements.

The changes were obvious to Bob Andris of San Jose when he and his wife went to the Santa Teresa DMV to renew his driver’s license last week.

“Right when you come in the door, you notice every other chair has been removed to increase spacing between customers,” he said. “I also noticed an employee telling you to increase the spacing between people while standing in line. Very commendable.

“However, we also noticed that placing your bare thumb on the electronic scanner, five different scanners between us, the scanners were never wiped clean before or after usage by customers. The same thing happened with the electronic signature scanners.

“A word to the wise: bring your own wipes.”

This month, the National Governors Association called for an extension of the REAL ID program, which has jammed offices statewide for months. Around 7.6 million REAL IDs have been issued in California, but many millions remain to be issued.

The Real ID is a federal requirement and the nation’s governors are recommending a program extension to ensure states and territories can focus efforts on combatting COVID-19.

“We urge the Department of Homeland Security to institute an extension of the REAL ID program for no less than one year,” the group wrote in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. “We believe an extension will allow all of us to focus our efforts on combatting the spread and severity of COVID-19.”

After Oct. 1, California residents will no longer be allowed to use their older, non-secure driver’s licenses as valid identification at airport checkpoints for domestic flights. State residents who do not have a REAL ID can use their federal passports, instead, as legal identification to fly.

Countless drivers could very well show up without an appointment at DMV, only to be turned away until this change to an appointment-only is well-communicated to all it may affect. The DMV presently has no plans to close offices, although that could change if the REAL ID deadline is extended.

“I think all the DMV’s should be closed for a while,” she said. “Having to take a driving test and having someone in your car you know nothing about, or who he or she has been in contact with, is quite strange with what is going on right now.”

Join Gary Richards for an hourlong chat noon Wednesday at www.mercurynews.com/live-chats. Look for Gary at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com or 408-920-5335.

Gary Richards has covered traffic and transportation in the Bay Area as Mr. Roadshow since 1992. Prior to that he was an assistant sports editor at the paper from 1984-1987. He started his journalism career as a sports editor in Iowa in 1975.